Gazprom, OMV to complete Austrian South Stream leg by 2016

OAO Gazprom and OMV AG signed a shareholders’ agreement for South Stream Austria GMBH, completing the final investment decision for the natural gas pipeline’s Austrian section with an eye on commissioning in late 2016.

The Austrian section of South Stream will transport 30-32 billion cu m (bcm)/year from the Hungarian border to Baumgarten, Austria. Gazprom and OMV expect all construction permits to be obtained by late next year.

Russia and Austria in 2010 signed the intergovernmental agreement for the implementation of the project in Austria, with Gazprom and OMV establishing South Stream Austria the following year. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding in April to build South Stream’s Austrian leg (OGJ Online, Apr. 30, 2014).

South Stream will ship 63 bcm/year across the Black Sea to Southern and Central Europe, with first gas scheduled for late 2016 and full capacity in 2018.